FEATURING: DW Groethe, Jake Riley, R.P. Smith, Dave Stamey.

There's something about daily life in cow country and its, well...daily-ness...that cuts right to the truth of existence. It's a rollercoaster of highs and lows, from the funniest of happenstances to the more horrifying of affairs. Hang tight for an evening of quotidian delight...and disaster...as poets Jake Riley and R.P. Smith elevate the events of the everyday while musicians DW Groethe and Dave Stamey cut to the core of the commonplace. It's gutbusting. It's gutwrenching. It's an unrestrained romp through the humor and horror of everyday agrarian life.

From the 39th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

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PLAYLIST

"The Coffee Song" - DW Groethe
"On the Horn" - Jake Riley
"Tale of the West" - Dave Stamey
"Havana, Prince Albert, Marlboro and Me" - R.P. Smith
"Hard, Wild and Free" - DW Groethe
"Mr. Murphy" - Jake Riley
"Twelve Mile Road" - Dave Stamey
"The Other Day at the FSA" - R.P. Smith
"Ridin' That Trail" - DW Groethe
"Bruin Wooin'" - Jake Riley (poem by S. Omar Barker)
"Bubba and the Goat" - Dave Stamey
"Almost an International Incident" - R.P. Smith
"The Last Thing on My Mind" - DW Groethe (words + music by Tom Paxton)
"Waterskiing Poem" - Jake Riley
"Mixed Emotions" - Dave Stamey
"Ready for the Ride" - R.P. Smith
"My Brother" - DW Groethe (poem by Pat Richardson)

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

DW Groethe
Bainville, MT
DW Groethe is the son of a son of pioneers. He was born and raised in the west of Dakota and has lived the past 25-plus years across the border in Montana. It is the same land...same folks...same weather...same heartbeat. The lyrics may change but the rhythm stays true. He is a ranch hand, he is a poet, he is a songster. His songs and his poems sing of who he is and where he comes from. When you’re in Elko, feel free to stop DW any old time and ask him whatever needs asking. Coffee's on him.

Jake Riley
Riverdale, NE
Jake Riley grew up, for the most part, in the upper Arkansas Valley of the Colorado mountains and graduated from high school in Buena Vista. He began roping and rodeoing as a kid. Jake has always loved rhyming, publishing some of his first cowboy poetry for a high school project. Ever since, poetry has been one of his passions, but until recently he was mostly a closet poet. Much of Jake’s work involves firsthand ranch and rodeo experiences, often chronicling the contemporary "cowboy" who may not cowboy for a living but has ties to cowboy culture. For Jake, poetry is an overflow of life. His original poetry album, Western Errors, runs the gamut from cowboy wrecks to humor to philosophical observations and reflections on life.

R.P. Smith
Broken Bow, NE
R.P. Smith is a fourth-generation Custer County Nebraska rancher. A horse wreck in April 2023 took him off his feet for a few months, but he is looking forward to being upright and wearing out boot leather for this year’s Gathering. He is now carrying enough added hardware in his pelvis that some magnets in his saddle tree might change the outcome on the next bronc ride. Grateful for the hope of another ride, R.P. is willing to give up some drive for a smoother trip on his next mount. This past year has shown him what to hang onto–faith that the Lord has him covered, and gratitude to family and friends (many made through the world of cowboy poetry) that have gotten him over another rough patch.

Dave Stamey
Orange Cove, CA
Dave Stamey has been a cowboy, a mule packer, and a dude wrangler. Now, he is one of the most popular western entertainers working today. Dave has made it his life's work to celebrate the rural American West. In the past two decades, he has recorded 11 albums of original music, traveled hundreds of thousands of miles, and performed thousands of shows doing just that. His songs capture the life of the modern cowboy in a world of rapid transition, where some things change constantly and some things never change at all. He lives in the farthest northeastern corner of Tulare County, where the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains begin just outside his back door.

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Filmed in front of a live audience at the Elko Convention Center’s Laurena Moren Theater on Feb. 3, 2024.

Made possible by Blach Distributing Company and by the multitude of staff, artists, volunteers, and community members working behind the scenes to make this show happen.

Brought to you by the Western Folklife Center, using story and cultural expression to connect the American West to the world.
www.westernfolklife.org

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